Thursday, July 17, 2003

MagnificentI am so impressed with the blogosphere today. It is one of those days where my regular rounds expose me to some thrilling and entirely new ideas. It is provoking me, engaging me. It's doing the same things that made me so excited about the potential of blogs many months ago

Doc kicked things off (as usual) this morning with a link to a USA Today editorial that highlights Governor Dean's online fundraising efforts.

And now I'm fascinated.

I had heard of the guest appearance on Lawrence Lessig's blog but never made a significant effort to read it. Lessig's blog tends to deal with subjects that are a little big for me to swallow. But now I am seeing the genesis of a candidate that is addressing issues that I care about, not with speeches and sound bites, but with dialogue. It seems that Dean is becoming the catalyst for many people to participate in a political system that they previously abandoned, never truly embraced or never felt they could be a part of.

The success of his fundraising efforts (average donation: $88.11) is evidence of that. His blog is another.

And then there's Tony...His blog generally amazes me with it's giddy content and incredible volume. But today he's got me thinking too. How does one kill nine people and injure 45 with an automobile and not go to jail? How does one reconcile pictures of the scene with the fact that 86 year old George Russell Weller went home yesterday?

George may not have meant to do it. But I am willing to guess that he ignored signs that he should not be behind the wheel for some time. If it takes you a block and a half to figure out the difference between the brake and the accelerator then you should not be driving. At 86 years old, George should have realized that. There are nine families that will not be able to shrug off such carelessness. We shouldn't either.

LA Blogs is collecting relevant links to media and blog coverage of the event. It helps remind me that the ability to drive a car is not a right, it's a privilege.